Refrigerator shelf



A. E. NAVE REFBIGEHATOR SHELF Feb; is, 1943.

Filed July l0, 1940 Mo'rfoRNEy Y Patented Feb. 16, i943 different adjusted positions of the shelf; and

REFRIGERATOR SHELF Alfred E. Nave, Newburgh, Ind., assigner to Servel, Inc., New York, N. Y., a. corporation of Delaware Application July 11/140, serial No. 344,710

(C1. al1- 143) I 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a shelf vfor refrigerators especially of the household type.

In household refrigerators there is 1usually provided in theV upper section of the storage compartment acoollng unit and shelves on opposite sides of` said unit known as fly shelves.

One object of the present invention is to provide improved means for firmly supporting a fly shelf in ai'efrigerator compartment.

Another object is to provide means for supporting refrigerator fly shelves in a manner to permit easy slidable movement thereof.

Another object is to provide a refrigerator fly shelf that is adjustable in elevation.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a refrigerator yof lthe household type having shelves embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the refrigerator cabinet taken on line 2-42 of Fig.. 1, and showing in top plan view one of the shelves embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is a section tak-en on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing in full lines and in dot and dash lines Fig'y 4 is a perspective of the shelf. 'f A household refrigerator I0 comprises a cabizo-of the shelf I9, the slide 24 and the guide 25 are t net II having a storage compartment I2 and at their front edges with a breaker strip IB. vA

door I'I in a doorway I8 affords access tothe storage compartment I2. In the upper section of the storage compartment I2, a number of ily shelves I5 are provided on opposite sides of a cooling or evaporator unit 20.

Each of the shelves I9 comprises a rectangular border bar frame 22 with a series of parallel wires 23 secured thereto by any suitable means as for instance by welding or soldering and forming a supporting surface for said shelf. One or more of these shelves I9, is slidably supported from a side panel of the inner cabinet liner I3, and for that purpose is secured at one side to a 'slide 24, `slidably and removably mounted in aguide or slideway 25 mounted on said liner panel. The frame bar 22 is U-shaped and has its ends afdxed to the slide 24 by any suitableY means as for instance by welding. Slide 24 is desirably in the form of a metal panel which is provided with flat parallel side sections 2B offset from thev longitudinal center section 2l of said slide and which is so shaped as to permit The guide 25, which is channel shaped, may be made either of metal or of moulded or extruded plastic, and is provided with a flat center section 28 secured to the side panel of the inner cabinet liner I3 by any suitable means as for The guide channel 25 need not extend the fully depth of the storage compartment I2 as shown in Fig. 2, while the shelf I9 with its attached slide 2 extends substantially the full depth of said compartment.

In order to permit changes in the elevation both symmetrical on opposite sides of their respective longitudinal axes, and' said shelf I9 is secured to said slide at a section spaced a substantial distance from the axis of said slide. The elevation of the shelf I 9 may thus .be changed by merely reversing said shelf as shown in Fig. 3 from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dot and dash lines, or vice versa.

In order that the 'shelf I9 presentsimilar interchangeable supporting surfaces,A the wires 23 are provided on both the top and bottom of the frame bar 22.

Awurnlng that it is desired to change the elevation of the shelf I9 from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, the shelf with attached panel 24 is pulled out to slide said panel out of the channel guide 25. The shelf I9 is then reversed, so that the front end of said slide becomes the rear end, and this rear slide end is inserted into the channel guide 25, and the shelf pushed rearward into the storage compartment I2;l In this reversed position, the shelf I9 will be in posiits manufacture by a simple stamping operation.

tion shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3 so that increased storage room is afforded above saidfshelf. With the shelf adjustable feature, thegjslelves I9 can be arranged to utilize a great deal more of the available storage space than is Possible with fixed shelves. l

In either position of the shelf I9, said shelf will be firmly supported by cantilever action to the side wall of the liner I3 so that no additional support for the shelf I9 is necessary.

Various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the inventionkas set `for-th in the following claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A refrigerator shelf device including a slide symmetrical on both sides of its longitudinal 2. Ina refrigerator cabinet, a substantially horizontal slideway on an interior wall of the cabinet, a slide member, a fly shelf secured at one edge to said slide member so that the latter is capable of holding said ily shelf in cantilever fashion, said slideway being open at least at one end to slidably receive said slide member in both right side up and upside down positions of said fly shelf, and said fly shelf being secured to said slide member so that it is nearer one horizontal edge of said slide member than the other, whereby said shelf is located at a different elevation when the shelf and slide member are inverted in said slideway.

l ALFRED E. NAVE. 

